Wounded
by JaydenBell
Summary: Set a couple months after Lost Son, minor spoilery. One shot. CalleighHoratio


Disclaimer: I got nothing…just the computer.

Summary: Set a couple months after 'Lost Son.' I don't really want to summarize too much because it would be very predictable about half-way through the story (cause I had a totally different summary here when I started)…

A/N: I don't beta, so I would love to fully claim all my mistakes.

She got out of the shower in the locker room and dressed quickly. She hated using the showers at work, but after processing four dumpsters, a locker room shower felt like heaven. She toweled her hair a bit more before tossing the towel into the bin.

She took her socks and boots from her locker and sat on the bench in the middle of the row.

Horatio walked in with a file in his hand and stood a couple feet away as he spoke. "Calleigh, we got prints off the knife you pulled from the trash. He's being brought in for questioning now."

Calleigh leaned down to pull her socks on, and replied without looking up at him. "That's great. At least the hours of dumpster diving was not in vain."

Horatio chuckled. "I thought you would appreciate it. Valera is trying to get DNA from the knife as well to see if there is a third party."

Calleigh pulled one boot on and zipped it, pulling her pant leg down over it. She began to repeat the process with the other. That sounds like a good idea. Let me know if…."

"Calleigh," Horatio cut her off, "have you injured yourself?"

Calleigh gave him a questioning look. She didn't know what he was talking about. She got cuts and scrapes without realizing it sometimes, but if it was large enough for Horatio to notice from several feet away, she knew she would have noticed it as well. She then noticed where his gaze had been fixed. His eyes were on her lower back. She was wearing dark pants and a dark shirt, so if the back of her shirt had hiked up when she leaned forward (which she figured it may have while she was putting her boots on), her fair skin would contrast easily, inadvertently drawing his eyes for a moment. But then she realized why he couldn't avert his gaze. She remembered that she had a large bandage over her back and it must be visible now, as Horatio was questioning her health.

She sat up straight and pulled her shirt back down to cover her back. "No, I'm fine."

"Calleigh, if you were injured in the field, I need to know so we can make sure you are taken care of."

"Really, Horatio, it's nothing."

Horatio sat on the bench next to Calleigh, his body facing the opposite direction, but his face still turned to her. "You know it's not a big deal. We've all gotten scraped up on the job." He paused for just a moment; he didn't want to push her but he was concerned that she might be more injured than she let on. "Why don't you have Alexx take a look at it?"

Calleigh flipped her shirt up, revealing the whole bandage. "Have a look for yourself," she persuaded.

Horatio hesitated for a moment. He put one hand on her back to brace her skin, and carefully pulled the corner of the bandage away with the other.

Calleigh bit her bottom lip, partially at the sting of the bandage pulling a bit, and partially to contain her smile.

Horatio took his hands off Calleigh's back and rested them in his lap, leaving one side of the bandage still attached to Calleigh's skin. He thought for a moment, still looking at the healing wound. "Well."

Calleigh finally turned her head to look at him, grinning a bit. "What do you think?"

He nodded. "Not bad."

"It'll look better in a few days once it's healed up. But some criminalists are just too quick for that."

"Next time, just tell me to butt out."

"I don't mind. I thought it would be more likely that people would see this one. I mean, I've had it for less than a week and you've seen it already. It's not very hidden." She looks back over her shoulder, down to her exposed back. "Would you mind…" She points to the bandage.

"Sure." He pulls the bandage back over the tattoo, and she pulls her shirt back down over the bandage.

"As badly as Speedle wanted to see my other one, I'm just sorry he couldn't come with me to get this one. He was going to get one too."

"You've got him with you forever." He smiled at the sentiment of the dedication scrawled around the artwork: _Partner in crime, Best friend, Hero._

A/N: Wasn't going to be about Speedle until I got to the very end and it just seemed so appropriate to dedicate it to him, as he was the one who brought up her tattoo in season 1 in the first place.


End file.
